2011 IOM Southern 100
Guy Martin was unstoppable at the opening day of practice for the Southern 100 on the Isle of Man, the same Island where he took four out of five podiums in the solo IOMTT races.
The Lincolnshire Relenteless Suzuki GSX-R1000 pilot, a former solo champion at the 4.25-mile Billown Circuit at the southern end of the Isle of Man, was on top of all four practice sessions at the Southern 100.
But during the first race that evening, the Corlett’s Trophies 600/1000cc event, Isle of Man TT rider Michael Dunlop topped Guy Martin by a tenth of a second.
Dunlop also beat Martin’s lap record with 2:16.213 (112.324mhp) finishing with a race time of 18:23.260, just 0.121 ahead of Martin.
Michael Dunlop (PB Kawasaki ZX-10R) says: "I made a lunge into stadium and lost the front end and went right out onto the kerb, it was messy but held it to get through. It was a great race and I thought that Guy was away at the start but I just plugged and plugged away."Both Dunlop and Martin paced at lap-record speeds. Joining the two on the podium was Cameron Donald, who finished 18 seconds behind Martin. The Australian Donald started from ninth before finishing on the podium. IOMTT favorites William Dunlop and Ryan Farquhar rounded out the top five.
Guy Martin (Relentless Suzuki GSX-R1000) says: "We knackered the job on the last lap, but we’ll be all right. I had a tiny little problem on the last lap and I got caught a bit with backmarkers – no excuses mind – but we know what it is and we’ll have it fixed for the next one.
"We have another three or four goes here this week. We were both well inside the lap record there. We were some distance in front of the rest as you can see by the lap times. The big bike is working well and the little ‘un is flying so the job’s a good ‘un."
According to IOMTT, in the 600cc race that ran concurrently with the 1000cc class Wayne Hamilton took the honors with 19:47.755 from Davy Morgan (19:49.740) and Lee Vernon (20:34.974).
In the evening’s sidecar Race Klaus Klaffenbock/Dan Sayle took the honours after a major battle with Simon Neary/Jason Crowe and Ian and Carl Bell. At one point on the last lap of the six lap race less than a second separated the first three machines and although Klaffenbock/Sayle led for most of the race, Neary/Crowe nearly snatched a last gasp victory.
Southern 100: Corlett’s Trophies 1000cc Results [8 laps of the 4.25-mile Billown Circuit]:
1 Michael Dunlop [Kawasaki] 18mins 23.260.
2. Guy Martin [Relentless Suzuki by TAS] 18mins 23.381.
3 Cameron Donald [Honda] 18mins 41.865
4. William Dunlop [Honda] 18mins 42.032
5. Ryan Farquhar [Kawasaki] 19mins 01.918
6. Dan Kneen [Kawasaki] 19mins 06.135.
2011 Southern 100 Race Schedule:
Wednesday, July 13:
6:20 p.m. – Total Oils Senior Race [8 Laps]
8 p.m. – Radcliffe Butchers’ 600cc Race [8 Laps]
Thursday, July 14:
11.10 a.m. – S&S Motors’ 600cc Race [8 Laps]
3 p.m. – Manx Gas Solo Championship Race [9 Laps]
8:30 p.m. – Open Air Presentation in Castletown Market Square